I talked a while back about doing a different type of campaign. The campaign I'm running is using the Great Pendragon Campaign as a framework for the story sequence but I'm also using several other resources in order to make a more authentic Dark Ages campaign. With that in mind I also realized I didn't want to use the Pendragon Player's Map so I decided to make my own. Finally after several drafts It's nearly (kinda-sorta-not really) completed.
http://i.imgur.com/1CoN9j9.jpg
Larger Version that's mostly legible.
http://i.imgur.com/tDpN2e1.jpg
It's based on several different maps I found across the internet and my own research. With that in mind it's not nearly done. Outlying areas like Caledonia, Hibernia, and Gaul don't have much detail for instance. I resorted to using crappy clipart for most of the symbols, I'm hoping to replace them with handrawn stuff later hopefully. It's a good start though I think. I'm posting this here because I know there are some experts here that will pick this map apar- I mean... help me improve it. Some of the lettering might be hard to read at this resolution. I'm going to try and fix that with the next version. There is a higher resolution available but it's 30mb and I'm not sure where to host it.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to whatever commentary you might have.

The dutch coastline is completely wrong, you are missing the inner sea we had at that time...

fg,
Thijs

The dutch coastline is completely wrong, you are missing the inner sea we had at that time...

fg,
Thijs

Figures. I based all the landmasses on modern maps. Is there any reference I can use perhaps?

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontstaan_van_de_Nederlandse_ondergrond#mediaviewer/Bestand:800nc_ex_leg.jpg

fg,
Thijs

I talked a while back about doing a different type of campaign. The campaign I'm running is using the Great Pendragon Campaign as a framework for the story sequence but I'm also using several other resources in order to make a more authentic Dark Ages campaign. With that in mind I also realized I didn't want to use the Pendragon Player's Map so I decided to make my own.
Anyways, I'm looking forward to whatever commentary you might have.


The Kingdom of Soissons was bigger than that. Not that it likely matters, as it will be conquered by Franks, but still...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reame_di_Siagrio_%28486%29.png

Benoic has been identified in KAP universe to be in Gascony, South-Western France.

Bernard Cornwell identifies Benoic as an Armorican kingdom. He placed the capital of Benoic to Mont Saint-Michel in his Warlord Chronicles. You might wish to do the same? The connections between the Britons in Britain and the Britons in Bretagne are well-known and would explain the alliances... Granted, it makes the whole Courtly Amor thing less likely, but to be honest, if you are running a Dark Ages 'historical' Arthur anyway, you might as well toss the anachronisms away. :)

Nice! That's a lot of work! I love the terrain features especially— the mountains and forests. Forests are hard to do...

The next year will see the release of a ton of new official PENDRAGON maps starting with the next major release, THE BOOK OF THE WARLORD, which is now in the proofing and QA stage.

We plan to release some stand-alone maps on Drive Thru RPG for free or very cheap. PENDRAGON Britain is getting a new coastline, based on the best scholarly papers we could find on the subject. County Salisbury is getting a facelift as well — you'll get a sneak peek in WARLORD!


Best,


T.

@Felix: Gorgeous. I like the map and the historical data as well. I've been reading Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles and this matches up to the spirit of those books quite nicely. Thanks! 8)

@Taliesin. I am a sucker for maps. I will buy anything you release! :o Any chance they will have layers to make things easier to adjust as the campaign progresses? I'm starting my prep for the Anarchy phase and can already tell that would be SUPER helpful.

It wouldn't be practical to sell the file with layers, I'm afraid, for a couple of reasons. First off, we don't want a lot of competing versions out there in the Wild — it would just result in confusion. Second of all, the Photoshop docs have hundreds of layers, literally. It's quite a bit to manage and the file size is huge.

There is some good news, however: WARLORD is going to have a series of maps featuring all the castles of Logres through each of the Periods of the Early Phase. So you can see how the castles evolve from the Uther Period to the Boy-King Period. Castles get raised, pulled down, captured, liberated and rebuilt! We're talking well over a hundred castles here (x3!). This is one of the things that's taking us so long to deliver this book. There's so much data to correlate, double check, and format. Names, types, tenants, events, locations, and more! Oy. But we're dutifully slaving away, trying to get this thing out ASAP! We're very pleased with the book, if not the speed with which it's been produced.


Best,


T.

Completely understand. Can't wait. /end thread hijack.

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontstaan_van_de_Nederlandse_ondergrond#mediaviewer/Bestand:800nc_ex_leg.jpg

fg,
Thijs

Thanks. But isn't this the coast further north of what's on my map? I might be wrong but I think mine ends right at Flanders. I'm fairly sure though that I don't have the marshland of that area fully developed which needs to be addressed. I used the Pendragon map to place all the Marshlands of Britain like the Fens and the Humber estuary, but I couldn't find a good reference for the continental wetlands.



The Kingdom of Soissons was bigger than that. Not that it likely matters, as it will be conquered by Franks, but still...


Point taken, I'll enlarge the lettering so it looks like it covers the right area. I have a version of this map with political borders but I think they wash out the terrain too much so I'm not using them. Here's an interesting question though. What should I actually call the place? Domain of Sygarius sounds a bit generic. What would Praetor Sygarius have called his domain? Or what would the inhabitants have called it?


Benoic has been identified in KAP universe to be in Gascony, South-Western France.

Bernard Cornwell identifies Benoic as an Armorican kingdom. He placed the capital of Benoic to Mont Saint-Michel in his Warlord Chronicles. You might wish to do the same? The connections between the Britons in Britain and the Britons in Bretagne are well-known and would explain the alliances... Granted, it makes the whole Courtly Amor thing less likely, but to be honest, if you are running a Dark Ages 'historical' Arthur anyway, you might as well toss the anachronisms away. :)



@Felix: Gorgeous. I like the map and the historical data as well. I've been reading Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles and this matches up to the spirit of those books quite nicely. Thanks! 8)


Ah! You caught me. I based most of this map on the Warlord Chronicles map(two of them in fact), at least at the beginning. And you're right, I'm tossing out alot of the anachronisms of Pendragon for a more gritty Dark Ages fantasy game. As far as Britanny goes, I would like to rearrange that whole area of Gaul to better represent the reality of the late 5th Century. I do plan to keep the Warlord Chronicles references where I can though. The game I'm running is going to be an amalgam of all the Arthurian material I've been reading the past two years.



Nice! That's a lot of work! I love the terrain features especially— the mountains and forests. Forests are hard to do...

The next year will see the release of a ton of new official PENDRAGON maps starting with the next major release, THE BOOK OF THE WARLORD, which is now in the proofing and QA stage.


Thanks! The mountains and trees were done with a little help from this fantastic photoshop brush set. http://starraven.deviantart.com/art/Sketchy-Cartography-Brushes-198264358

Even though the Pendragon game I will be running will be radically different I too am looking forward to WARLORD. I plan on using the basic framework of the GPC story with my own alterations, so having that resource will be helpful.

I wanna know if you have any comments on is the placement of the special location graphics on the map.(Cerne Abbas Giant, Stonehenge, White Horse, The Red Dragon, etc) I like to call them map easter eggs. I took most of those locations out of the section in the Enchantment Period. My goal is to fill the entire island with small images to represent important or sacred places such as that. Things like ancient churches, prehistoric sites, and natural wonders. Any suggestions or helpful resources I could look at?



Thanks for all the feedback! I'll be posting a new version of the map later tonight possibly.

This map seems decent for your efforts, Felix. Especially as it is supposed to be for AD 481.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Politically_divided_Gaul%2C_481.jpg

Thanks! The mountains and trees were done with a little help from this fantastic photoshop brush set. http://starraven.deviantart.com/art/Sketchy-Cartography-Brushes-198264358

Familiar with that set, although I haven't used it, yet. Making my own set of brushes.


I wanna know if you have any comments on is the placement of the special location graphics on the map.(Cerne Abbas Giant, Stonehenge, White Horse, The Red Dragon, etc) I like to call them map easter eggs. I took most of those locations out of the section in the Enchantment Period. My goal is to fill the entire island with small images to represent important or sacred places such as that. Things like ancient churches, prehistoric sites, and natural wonders. Any suggestions or helpful resources I could look at?


All I can say is stay tuned! We've done an awful lot of work in this area over the past year — a framework that we will continue to build and refine in the years to come. All the things you mention — and then some — have been given consideration. Lots of Pendragony goodness is in the works. As for resources, I can only cite the interwebs as a primary research tool. That and Greg Stafford's library of arcane works that I catch occasional glimpses of. Luckily, he includes many of these titles in the bibliographies of the current series of books we're producing.


T.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Politically_divided_Gaul%2C_481.jpg

I'll save that in the collection. Gonna have to sift through the modern names. I assume all the cities listed were the major centers at the time right? Also I think my map doesn't cut out too far south for me to label Aquitaine right?



Familiar with that set, although I haven't used it, yet. Making my own set of brushes.


Oooh cool, I'd like to see what you come up with!


All I can say is stay tuned! We've done an awful lot of work in this area over the past year — a framework that we will continue to build and refine in the years to come. All the things you mention — and then some — have been given consideration. Lots of Pendragony goodness is in the works. As for resources, I can only cite the interwebs as a primary research tool. That and Greg Stafford's library of arcane works that I catch occasional glimpses of. Luckily, he includes many of these titles in the bibliographies of the current series of books we're producing.


T.

I'll keep hunting. The bibliographies should be useful. I'm gonna try my best not to bog myself down in a bunch of reference books If I can. Reason I asked was because most of the easter eggs of special sites lie in the south of Britain and I feel like the rest of the island looks kinda bare. I've already decided on a few sites in the north, I just have to hunt for some good art.

I'll save that in the collection. Gonna have to sift through the modern names. I assume all the cities listed were the major centers at the time right? Also I think my map doesn't cut out too far south for me to label Aquitaine right?


Have to say that having 'Winchester' in AD 481 doesn't fill me with confidence. :P However, it was an important Roman town under the name of Venta Belgarum and while the urban life collapses in mid-5th century, the town was revived under Anglo-Saxon auspices in 6th and 7th century. Canterbury is similar, except it was the Jutish invaders instead of Saxons.

You just touch the northern edge of Aquitaine, as you have a strip of the southern bank of Loire on your map.

Have to say that having 'Winchester' in AD 481 doesn't fill me with confidence. :P However, it was an important Roman town under the name of Venta Belgarum and while the urban life collapses in mid-5th century, the town was revived under Anglo-Saxon auspices in 6th and 7th century. Canterbury is similar, except it was the Jutish invaders instead of Saxons.

You just touch the northern edge of Aquitaine, as you have a strip of the southern bank of Loire on your map.


Good point. Perhaps I should figure out what's in ruins and what's not. If I'm not mistaken at this point most of the ruined cities are still inhabited to a small extent. But I get what you're saying, Venta shouldn't be a major settlement. Winchester is supposed to be the GPC location for Camelot, but I was thinking of instead either using Cadbury Hill or Camulodunum. (or both.)

Collapse of Venta Belgarum (and other Roman and Tribal urban centers) is a bit harsh. Many centers had declined, but there were still people there. Building in stone (imported) by the Romans did cease, but many of these centers show building continued with timber. So I would suggest reduced populations and markets, but the nobility moved to the country and exist in other settlements. I would also continue the decline... perhaps with periodic trains of refugees leaving the "cities" and "towns", perhaps on their way to agricultural settlements around the new political centers. Good targets for Angle, Saxon, Jute, and Frank raiders.

Cadbury Hill and Cadbury Castle both show signs of reoccupation during this period, probably as the political/military centers.

SDLeary